Cover for locks



{No Mbdel.)

P. HOPKINS. covnn. FOR LOGKS.-

No. 547,650. Patented Oct. 8, 1895.

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PARAZETTE HOPKINS, OF WILLIAMSPORT, PENNSYLVANIA.

COVER. FOR LOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 547,550, dated October 8, 1895.

Application filed December 15, 1894:. 8erial No.631,93 8. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PARAZETTE HOPKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Williamsport, in the county of Lycoming and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Cover for Locks, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved cover for looks, whereby they are protected from the detrimental influence of exposure to the Weather, and whereby their manipulation in cold and freezing Weather is rendered easy.

The invention is particularly adapted to the locks of letter-boxes, for in cold or wet weather the mechanism of these locks becomes filled with water, which subsequently freezes and binds the moving parts so securely as to render it an excessively difficult job to open the lock. Devices of this kind have been devised heretofore; but they have not been completely successful in attaining the object for which they were devised, since each had some disadvantage which rendered it impracticable or undesirable. It is therefore the object of the present invention to overcome the existing disadvantages and to provide a lock-protector which will be elficient in every respect, one which will be simple in construction, and principally one which will be capable of easy manipulation.

To these ends the invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, the invention is fully illustrated.

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a lock-cover constructed after the manner of my invention and shown as applied to a lettor-box, the casing being illustrated as in the act of covering the lock. Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the lock exposed. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the device when in the position of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is ahorizontal section of the device when in the same position. Fig. 5 is a detail view illustrating the construction whereby the casing is held in a closed position. 7

The reference-numeral 1 indicates the letter-box, which is here shown to be of that form wherein the door by which the letters are removed is hinged at the lower side and swings on a horizontal axis, and which has at its upper edge an outwardly-projecting ledge or flange 2.

3 indicates the casing, which is formed of cast metal, and which is rectangular in shape, and which has an open inner side. The upper edge or top of the casing 3 has projected flanges, though this is not absolutely essential.

Formed in the upper portion of the casing 3 and at the inner side thereof, said side being that which is open, are the horizontallyaligned notches 4:, which are shaped so that they will be capable of snugly receiving the ledge 2 thereof, permitting the casing to lie snugly against the letter-box.

Formed on the right-hand side of the easing 3 and below the adjacent notch 4- thereof are. the transversely-projecting lugs 5, which are two in number, and which have the spindle 6 rigidly secured in vertically-aligned openings in them. These lugs 5 form members of the hinge which mounts the casing 3, and the remaining member consists of a plate 7, which is formed with screw-holes by which it may be rigidly secured to the side of the box, as shown in the drawings, and which has formed integral therewith the lugs 8. These project out perpendicularly from the plate 7 and are adapted to lie between the lugs 5 and to have the spindle 6 revolubly mounted therein. The distance between the lugs 8 is such that the casing will have a slight vertical movement on the plate, and this condition is for a particular purpose, viz: to permit the application and operation of the device forholding the casing closed. This consists of a lug formed on the under side of the upper lug 5, and having an arc-shaped convex lower side. This lug 9 is adapted to co-operate with a similarly-shaped recess or depression 10, formed in the upper side of the top lug 8 and at an inner portion thereof and directly adjacent to that side which is contiguous to the casing 3. Thus it will be seen that as the casing 3 is moved to a closed position the lug 9 will drop by the gravity of the casing 3 into the recess or depression 10, and here it will be held until positive force is applied to the casing, whereby it may be swung upen.

Thus it will be seen that the device acts automatically to lock or rather to hold the casing closed, andthat this may be overcome ICO when it is desired to open the casing. It will also be observed that by means of my invention the lock is effectively and completely protected from the weather and prevented from becoming clogged by ice and other matter, all of which will be understood. It will further be observed that by mounting the casing upon a vertical axis it may be operated with greater convenience, since it will not have a tendency when open to swing back upon the lock, thus encumbering the lock when it is being manipulated and making it inconvenient for the operator.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- In a look protector, the combination with a horizontally swinging casing comprising a rectangular plate and a peripheral flange perpendicular thereto, of a locking hinge comprising vertically aligned perforated lugs attached to and extending laterally from one of the side flanges of said casing, one of said lugs being provided on its inner horizontal face with a small projection, oval or convex in'shape, and a plate adapted to be suitably secured to the object whose lock is to be protected, said plate being provided with perforated lugs adapted to align with said casing lugs therebetween and so spaced as to allow slight vertical play thereof between said casing lugs, one of said plate lugs being provided on its outer horizontal face with a concaved depression or socket arranged to receive said convex projection, and a hinge spindle threaded through said two pairs of lugs and suitably secured therein, all said parts being so combined and arranged that the casing may be freely swung open and shut by raising the same slightly from its closed position, and will be securely retained in closed position by the said lug depression receiving the said lug projection which, by reason of their specified forms, tend to wedge the casing tightly closed against the protected object, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

PARAZETTE HOPKINS.

Witnesses:

JNO. BUDD, GEO. R. Znnonnn. 

